Excellent day!!!

It all started with a bit of running this morning. Not too long after that, we went to check out our best friends' boy playing Prep Division ball in Madison. That's always entertaining. Plus, I was able to get in some hacky time...

After that, I had to prepare for something I'd never done before. I successfully used a smoker to make what turned out to be an AWESOME pork shoulder. The prep involved stopping at the store for a few things on the way home. I got the charcoal burning and when it was ready, I let the meat sit there for six hours. Given how much I love pulled pork, I can't believe I'd never done this before.

While this meat was cooking, I had a chance to soak up the rays and hang out in my cul-de-sac listening to loud music and kicking the olde sack again. Seeing that we got into the mid-80s today, I was fairly rank after close to an hour.

I had time to shower and schlep around for a bit before dinner. Mmmmmm, DINNER! If gluttony is truly one of the seven deadly sins, Hades is in line for a management change. Perhaps four sandwiches (and some slaw) was a little excessive, but they tasted SO GOOD.

Just chillin' the rest of the night and tomorrow's supposed to be a beautiful day as well...

When I stepped out to run at 6:40 AM.... (with a little added political rant at the end)

It was partly cloudy and 66F. Beautiful morning!!!

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FWIW, and I don't mean to get too political here, Congress and the White House need a serious wake-up call. Obama's already announced his 2012 campaign. Both sides of the political spectrum have had a role in selling out parts of the American dream and ideal. Both sides appear to be using the American people as pawns. I've been tired of this for years (my voting record is a testament to that). Next election, please don't forget that there are alternatives to Republicans and Democrats. There are the Green, Libertarian, and Constitution parties. And there are others. The status quo just ain't cuttin' it!

Several Federal government shutdown reports from CRS

bit.ly Bundles - Federal government shutdown reports from CRS - http://bit.ly/gZiWoW

2011 Chick-fil-A Charity 5K | Athens, Alabama 35613 | Saturday, April 30, 2011 @ 8:00 AM

2011 Chick-fil-A Charity 5K | Athens, Alabama 35613 | Saturday, April 30, 2011 @ 8:00 AM

'cept for the small tear in its wing...

This luna moth I found flitting about the side of my house was a fine looking specimen.

From 2011-04-06

And before I forget....

Decorah Bald Eagle Cam

High-res images of Fukushima Daiichi & CRS reports regarding the Japanese nuclear incident

A friend from work posted a link to some higher quality images of the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Facebook. Wow!!!

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At the bottom of the "NO-FLY ZONES: CONSIDERATIONS FOR CONGRESS" section of the March 24, 2011 Secrecy News newsletter, you can find the first released CRS report regarding Fukushima Daiichi.

An additional report (and a related report regarding US plants and seismic zones) can be found in this section of the April 4th newsletter.

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In closing, the MIT department of nuclear science and engineering recently held a forum about the nuclear plant side of the Japanese disaster. See the story with embedded 1-1/2 hour video...

Top 10 in THOMAS, politics vs. NIMBY, Zzaj on twitter.com

Top ten legislative items searched on THOMAS, compiled on 4/3/2011 from weekly usage statistics

1. H.R. 1 - [112th] - Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011
2. H.R. 1255 - [112th] - Government Shutdown Prevention Act of 2011
3. H.R. 658 - [112th] - FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011
4. H.R. 3590 - [111th] - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
5. H.R. 4173 - [111th] - Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
6. H.R. 839 - [112th] - HAMP Termination Act of 2011
7. H.R. 872 - [112th] - Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011
8. H.R. 471 - [112th] - Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act
9. H.R. 3 - [112th] - No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act
10. H.R. 861 - [112th] - NSP Termination Act

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I recently overheard someone lamenting how those evil Democrats have killed Yucca Mountain. To be perfectly clear, I don't prefer either of the two big parties. Yucca had been in scoping and planning (and the requisite fees to the nuclear industry) since 1982. And yes, it has been generally under the leadership of Democrats that the plans for Yucca have met a highly likely demise. The "lamenter" specifically named John Reid (D-NV). Yes, Reid had a part to play, but as I heard the individual talk, I thought to myself, "What about John Ensign and Yucca?"

This seemed to me to be more of a NIMBY thing than a political line thing. I'm willing to bet that, given a similar situation, many other Congressional delegations (both Republicans and Democrats) would fight against a project like Yucca in their own states.

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Zzaj on twitter.com

Browns Ferry NRC docs for the week,

1. ML110831042 - Texas Transportation Institute, "DOS K12 Crash Test and Evaluation of the HESCO C-3315 Flood Barrier," April 2005, Enclosure 3.
2. ML110831038 - ERDC TR-07-3, "Flood-Fighting Structures Demonstration and Evaluation Program: Laboratory and Field Testing in Vicksburg, Mississippi," Pages 127 through 192, Enclosure 1.
3. ML110831046 - ERDC TR-07-3, "Flood-Fighting Structures Demonstration and Evaluation Program: Laboratory and Field Testing in Vicksburg, Mississippi," Cover Page through 61, Enclosure 1.
4. ML110831040 - ERDC TR-07-3, "Flood-Fighting Structures Demonstration and Evaluation Program: Laboratory and Field Testing in Vicksburg, Mississippi," Page 193 through End of Report, Enclosure 1.
5. ML110831036 - ERDC TR-07-3, "Flood-Fighting Structures Demonstration and Evaluation Program: Laboratory and Field Testing in Vicksburg, Mississippi," Pages 62 through 126, Enclosure 1.
6. ML110831043 - HESCO Bastion USA, HESCO Concertainer Brochure, February 2009, Enclosure 4.
7. ML110831041 - Engineering Evaluation of Hesco Barriers Performance at Fargo, ND 2009, Wenck File 2283-01, Enclosure 2.
8. ML110830037 - Browns Ferry, Unit 3 - American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section XI, Inservice Inspection Program, Third Ten-Year Inspection Interval, Request for Relief 3-ISI-26.
9. ML110831044 - Tennessee Valley Authority - Re-submittal of Attachments for Responses to Hydrology Action Items.
10. ML110820353 - Browns Ferry Unit 2 - Request for Additional Information Regarding 2-ISI-1, Updated Risk-Informed Inservice Inspection Program (TAC No. ME3720).
11. ML110880671 - Press Release-II-11-012: NRC Schedules Conference With TVA to Discuss Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Issues.
12. ML110240474 - Browns Ferry, Unit 2 - Safety Evaluation For Relief Request 2-PDI-40, For The Fourth 10-Year Inservice Inspection Interval.
13. ML110680394 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 - Relief From The Requirements Of The Asme Code; 2-ISI-40.
14. ML110110051 - Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 - Safety Evaluation for Relief Request 2-Isi-41, for the Third 10-Year Inservice Inspection Interval (TAC No. ME3717).

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I was reading some of my RSS feeds and noticed a page from about.com about Alabama state symbols. I didn't know that many of these things were Alabama symbols...

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On a closing note (kind of like a dessert closes out a meal), you might notice that Google's daily image is an ice cream sundae. Today is the 119th anniversary of the first documented ice cream sundae. Mmmmmmm, ice cream sundae!!!